Tent-Like Comforter

ABSTRACT

The present invention introduces a “non-contacting” or tent-like comforter, which has one or more air gaps between parts of the user&#39;s body and the comforter portions right above said parts of the user&#39;s body when the comforter is in use, and at least part of the weight of the comforter body is not directly supported by the user or the bed. The invention also introduces a process that creates one or more air gaps between parts of the user&#39;s body and the comforter portions right above said parts of the user&#39;s body, and at least part of the weight of the comforter body is not directly supported by the user or the bed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

People have been using comforters for centuries, mainly to keep human body warm during sleeping or resting. Up to date, all the comforters are used in close contact with part of user's body right underneath the comforter to ensure good efficiency to reduce heat loss when room temperature is lower than human body temperature. When the temperature in a room is too low, some people may even use two or three or even more layers of comforters to keep their bodies warm. Depends on the materials that the comforters are made of, multi-layers of comforters could be significantly heavy, which may cause discomfort to some users or even cause trouble for blood circulation, especially for people who are weak or already sick.

The conventional way to use a comforter may also raise concerns of hygiene, especially if the comforter is shared by users, e.g., in hotels. Comforters are not as easy to clean as bed sheets; if the comforter was contaminated by any kind of fluid discharge from a user, it may still have residues on it even after being cleaned.

The present invention takes a totally different approach. The comforter introduced here is not in full contact with user's body portion underneath when the comforter is in use. On the contrary, at least for part of the user's body, there is a substantial air gap between said part of the user's body and the comforter portion right above said part of the user's body. In this way, said part of the body that is not in contact with the comforter will not feel any pressure from the weight of the comforter. The comforter can be designed and set up to touch the user's body only at very small area such as around neck and/or shoulder, which makes it more hygiene to the user and easy to keep the comforter clean. Even with a design that has small part of user's body not in contact with comforter, it can still benefit the user a lot if we leave the important parts such as private parts not in contact with the comforter. Further, in cases when the comforter is nearly in full contact with the user, the supporting or hanging mechanism can still redirect the weight of the comforter to reduce pressure over the user. There are also other advantages for the non-contacting comforter. For example, it is easy to get rid of trapped odor or moisture; just open up one or two side panels and let air go through the comforter, or lifting the comforter body totally off the mattress. Also, there is almost no need to make bed for the non-contacting comforter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is one preferred embodiment of the non-contacting comforter. The comforter body 100 is mounted onto the frame 200 below it.

FIG. 2 is the cross section along one direction of the preferred embodiment described in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is the cross section along another direction, perpendicular to the direction in FIG. 2, of the preferred embodiment described in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is another preferred embodiment of the non-contacting comforter. The frame is on the top of the comforter body, and the fixtures are used to attach the comforter body and frame together.

FIG. 5 is another preferred embodiment similar to the preferred embodiment in FIG. 4. The frame is below the comforter body.

FIG. 6 is another preferred embodiment without a rigid frame.

FIG. 7 is a preferred embodiment that utilizes both supporting and hanging mechanism for the frame.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

To those who are familiar with the art, a conventional comforter can lie flat on mattress without a significant air gap between the comforter and the mattress after it is set up and ready for use. When a user is lying flat in bed, the comforter falls down onto the user's body surface by gravity; the bottom surface of the comforter portion above said user's body will touch the top surface of said user's body or clothing such as sleep wear over said user's body, the gap between the bottom surface of the comforter portion right above said user's body and the top surface of said user's body parts is minimal. The weight of the comforter is supported by the user or the bed/mattress directly.

On the contrary, the non-contacting comforter described in current invention has a significant air gap between part of the user's body and the comforter portion right above said part of the user's body when the comforter is in use. The weight of the portion of the comforter not in contact with the user will be redirected to other places, at least not back to the user's body part right underneath said comforter portion.

This comforter is not the same as a tent for camping or for shielding mosquitoes. The tents for camping or shielding mosquitoes enclose the whole body of the user totally, including the head; therefore said user breathes the air inside the tent. The non-contacting comforter we introduce here leaves head out or at least leaves the nose out for breathing the air outside the space enclosed by the comforter tent.

Conventional comforter uses soft materials so that it can make close contact to user's body while in use. For the non-contacting comforter, the materials are no longer necessary to be soft, since the comforter is not meant to be in close contact to the user's body. It can use significant amount of rigid materials, either as supporting or hanging frame or even as the insulation part of the comforter for reducing heat loss.

In order to create an air gap between the user and the comforter, it is convenient but not necessary to manufacture the non-contacting comforter into two parts: comforter body and frame. A frame can help to define the shape of the comforter body and control the air gap between the comforter and the user.

One of the preferred embodiments is to use a solid frame 200 underneath the comforter body 100, as shown in FIG. 1. The frame 200 can sit on the bed with its posts 201 or can be fixed to the bed with hardware. The frame can also stand on floor as long as top part remains above the top surface of the bed/mattress underneath the comforter body 100. The frame 200 can be made of wood, bamboo, metal, or plastic, etc., as long as it can support the weight of the comforter. The frame 200 can be wrapped by cloth or other soft materials to avoid accidental scratch or bruise to body parts of the user due to occasional rubbing against or colliding with the frame when the user is under the comforter body 100 and frame 200. The tent-shape comforter body 100 can be made by multi-panels joined together by attachment mechanism. It can also be integrally woven together. It can be mounted over the frame 200 with fixtures, yet it can also just sit on the frame 200 without any fixture. After the comforter body 100 is mounted onto the frame 200, the comforter forms a gap filled with air between the comforter and the mattress. The edges, except the one on the user's head side, of the comforter body 100 are in contact with the top surface of the bed or mattress and form seals by gravity or using fixtures. On the user's head side, the edge of comforter body 100 covers the shoulders and/or neck of the user's body as well as the mattress surface but leaves said user's head or at least nose out to breathe air outside the space enclosed by the comforter body.

After assembly, the comforter may look like any tent shape to those who are familiar with the art. The cross section of the comforter/frame can be rectangular, triangular, trapezoid, or round etc. FIG. 1 only showed 4 posts 201 for the frame, yet we can use 3 or more than 4 posts as well. We can also use two boards instead of 4 posts to support the frame and comforter body. The frame 200 can also have more joists 202 instead of two in each direction, as shown in FIG. 1. More joists can avoid the top of the comforter body 100 sagging down too much.

The frame does not have to be in rectangular shape, it can be triangular, trapezoid, or round etc. It can also be constructed with bars and rods to form a shape like letter “T” or “H”. It can be any shape as long as it can create an air gap between the mattress and the comforter body 100 after the frame 200 and the comforter body 100 assembled together.

An even more preferred embodiment for the frame 200 is to have a flat horizontal surface, such as a board, on the top of joists 202. Another way is to put a board above the top of the comforter body 100 to create a flat surface. The flat surface formed by the board below or above the top surface of the comforter body can be served as a table for the user to put laptops, books, or other things on it.

The frame can also be made like a cage with a door and locking mechanism from inside so that it cannot be opened from outside, which ensures more privacy in a shared room such as a dorm. Pouches can be added inside the cage to store tools like flash lights, or self defense gadgets, etc.

More layers of insulation materials can be added to the frame easily to increase the heat insulation capability of the comforter.

Motors can be added to the posts of the frame to adjust the height of the frame. In this way, the volume of air gap can be adjusted easily when the comforter is in use. By changing the volume of the air gaps under the comforter body, the temperature distribution in the space enclosed by the comforter body can be changed as well as the efficiency of reducing heat loss by the comforter body. Electronic controllers can be added to drive the motors to control the height of frame, hence the volume and shape of the air gap, according to feedback from temperature sensors added under the comforter body that can sense the temperatures at one or multiple points for the air gap. In this way, the air temperature around the user body can also be changed automatically. Of course, the height of frame can also be adjusted manually by the user.

The comforter described in this disclosure can be sized to fit any different mattress sizes, such as twin size, extra-long twin size, full size, extra-long full size, queen size, King size or California King size, etc.

Another preferred embodiment is to hang the comforter to ceiling, wall, or a frame. Although it requires only one single point to lift the comforter, it is more preferred to hang said comforter up at multiple points. A typical way is to hang the comforter up at four corner points, as shown in FIG. 4. A rectangular frame 300 can be attached to the top of the comforter body 100. Fixtures 301 like strings, wires, bands, etc. can be used to attach the frame 300 and the comforter body 100 together. Bands with Velcro attached are probably the most convenient fixture. Only 6 fixtures are shown in FIG. 4 but more or less fixtures can be used, and one preferred embodiment of the fixtures 301 is to use bands as wide as one side of the frame.

Strings or wires 302 fixed at the corners of the frame 300 can be used to hang the comforter body 100 and frame 300 to ceiling, walls, or a larger frame. The four strings 302 can also tie together first, then hang to a point on ceiling or a frame.

FIG. 5 is another preferred embodiment similar to the one shown in FIG. 4, except the frame 300 is under the comforter body 100 instead of above the comforter body 100. With this reversed configuration, fixture 301 is no longer necessary to hold the frame 300 and the comforter body 100 together; however, fixtures can be added to attach the comforter body 100 to the frame 300 to avoid shifting during use.

Same as the embodiment has a post-supported frame in FIG. 1, the embodiments described in FIGS. 4 and 5 that utilize hanging frames do not necessarily use rectangular frames. The frame can be any shape as long as it can create an air gap between the mattress and the comforter after the frame and the comforter body 100 assembled together. Since balancing is easy for the hanging configuration, the frame can even be a single rod or bar hung up at two points or even at one point.

In FIG. 5, strings or wires 302 are fixed to the frame 300 through the comforter body 100. However, said strings or wires 302 can also be fixed to the top surface of the comforter body 100 instead. In this case, said frame 300 need to be attached to the bottom surface of the comforter body 100.

The other ends of the strings or wires 302 can be fixed to ceiling, walls or a frame above the bed. It is preferred to use flexible materials such as strings, wires, ropes, and chains, etc. to manufacture part 302; however, rigid materials like rods and bars etc. can also be used to manufacture part 302.

More layers of comforter can be easily added to embodiments described in FIGS. 4 and 5; need only have holes in additional comforter layers to let the hanging strings or wires 302 to go through.

Gravity or other sealing mechanisms mentioned above can be used to reduce heat loss through gaps between the comforter and user body, as well as the gaps between the comforter and the mattress.

For the embodiments using a frame to hang the comforter, a flat top surface can also be employed for a laptop, books, or other things, etc. especially if rigid materials are used to manufacture part 302.

In case the frame 300 in FIGS. 4 and 5 are hung to ceiling or walls, motors can be added to winding the hanging strings or wires 302 to change the size of the air gap under the comforter body 100. In case the frame 300 is hung onto another frame, motors can be added to the posts of said other frame to adjust the height of the frame 300 and change the size of the air gap under the comforter, either by adjust the post heights or winding the strings 302. Electronic controllers can be added to drive the motors to control the size of the air gap under the comforter according to feedback from temperature sensors added inside the space enclosed by the comforter, in same way as the embodiment mentioned in FIG. 1.

To those who are familiar with the art, it is not necessary to have a frame attached to a tent in order to hang said tent; same mechanism applies to the tent-like comforter we introduce here. FIG. 6 is a preferred embodiment without employment of a frame attached to the comforter body 100. The comforter body 100 is hung onto two flexible strings 101 to create an air gap between the mattress and the comforter body 100. The strings 101 are hung to ceiling, walls, or a frame to hold the comforter body 100 in place. It is not necessary to use a single piece of string 101 to hang up at both ends of said string 101, though it is preferred for mechanical strength. The comforter body 100 can be hung up with four strings attached to four corners of the comforter body 100. The comforter body 100 can also be hung up at a single point by a string.

Gravity or other sealing mechanisms mentioned above can be used to reduce heat loss through gaps between the comforter and user body, as well as the gaps between the comforter and the mattress.

Same as the embodiments employing hanging configuration mentioned above, motors can be added to winding the hanging strings or wires 101 to change the size of the air gap under the comforter. In case the strings or wires 101 are hung onto a frame, motors can be added to the posts of said frame to adjust the post heights and hence the height of the comforter body 100 and change the size of the air gap under the comforter body 100. Electronic controllers can be added to drive the motors to control the size of the air gap under the comforter according to feedback from temperature sensors added under the comforter body that can sense the temperatures at one or multiple points for the air gap.

For this specific embodiment in hanging configuration, the comforter body 100 can be totally lowered down to the user's body without causing discomfort, since all the constructing materials are flexible and the weight of the comforter body can be re-directed to ceiling, walls, or frame it hung to. The air gap volume can have big adjustment range down to almost zero without causing too much pressure or discomfort to the user.

It is not necessary to hold the comforter body in place by only using posts to support the frame or only strings to hang the frame. It can be a combination of posts and strings to support/hang the frame and the comforter body attached to the frame. FIG. 7 is one embodiment utilizing both posts 401 and strings 402 to hold the frame 400 and comforter body 100.

Gravity or other sealing mechanisms mentioned above can be used to reduce heat loss through gaps between the comforter and user body, as well as the gaps between the comforter and the mattress.

Same as the embodiments employing supporting/hanging configuration mentioned above, motors can be added to winding the hanging strings or wires 402 and change height of posts 401 to change the size of the air gap under the comforter. In case part 402 is hung onto another frame, motors can be added to the posts of said other frame to adjust the height of the frame 400 on the 402 side. Electronic controllers can be added to drive the motors to control the size of the air gap under the comforter according to feedback from temperature sensors added under the comforter body that can sense the temperatures at one or multiple points for the air gap.

Over all, we introduce a “non-contacting” or tent-like comforter, which has one or more air gaps between parts of the user's body and the comforter portions right above said parts of the user's body when the comforter is in use. Even when the air gaps can be minimal in certain embodiments, at least part of the weight of said comforter is not directly supported by the user or the bed, hence less pressure on user.

Besides the apparatus and embodiments described above but not limited to, this invention also introduces a process to use a comforter in a different way than conventional use. For conventional use of comforters, user leaves the head outside the comforter; in some cases such as hot summer, the user may also leave other body parts outside comforter as well as the head. In such cases, portions of comforter are not above the user's body parts; however, for the portions above the user's body, they are in close contact to the user's body parts. The new process to use comforter we introduce here uses a process that employs a mechanism to avoid direct contact of the comforter with at least some parts, or even most parts of the user's body. Instead, the process will form one or multiple air gaps between the comforter and parts of the user's body. The air gap(s) can avoid pressure on the user's body parts underneath the air gap(s) and prevent migration of microbes or particles or even fluid from the comforter to the user's body parts under the air gap(s), or vice versa. 

What we claim:
 1. A sleeping device comprising a comforter and a mattress, wherein the comforter, supported by a frame or other mechanisms, and the mattress forming an air gap such that the comforter is not in contact with some parts or most parts of a user's body underneath the comforter when the comforter is in use.
 2. A process that creates an air gap between some parts or most parts of a user and the comforter parts right above said body parts of the user when the comforter is in use.
 3. Said comforter claimed in claim 1 that has motorized mechanism to raise or lower the comforter to change the volume of air gap underneath the comforter and above the mattress or bed, with or without temperature feedback sensors inside the space enclosed by the comforter.
 4. Said process in claim 2 that uses motorized mechanism to raise or lower the comforter to change the volume of air gap between some parts or most parts of a user and the comforter parts right above said body parts of the user, with or without temperature feedback sensors inside the space enclosed by the comforter.
 5. Said comforter claimed in claim 1 that has multiple air gaps underneath the comforter and above the mattress or bed.
 6. Said process in claim 2 that create multiple air gaps between some parts or most parts of a user and the comforter parts right above said body parts of the user
 7. Said comforter claimed in claim 5 that has motorized mechanism to raise or lower the comforter to change the volume of air gaps underneath the comforter and above the mattress or bed, with or without temperature feedback sensors inside the space enclosed by the comforter.
 8. Said process in claim 6 that has motorized mechanism to raise or lower the comforter to change the volume of air gaps between some parts or most parts of a user and the comforter parts right above said body parts of the user, with or without temperature feedback sensors inside the space enclosed by the comforter.
 9. A sleeping device comprising a comforter and a mattress, wherein the comforter, supported by a frame or other mechanisms, at least the weight of one or more portions of the comforter above a user's body is not supported by the user's body parts underneath said portion or portions of said comforter.
 10. Said comforter claimed in claim 9 has less than 20% of the weight of one or more portions of the comforter above a user's body supported by the user's body parts underneath said portion or portions of said comforter. 